Njcdec

Hi
I am new here and am asking for advice on a few things can anyone help please?

1--i heard Gozo is a good area as i have a couple of children at the moment aged 10 and 13 is there any other area of malta that would be worth considering

2--i would like to set up a business how easy is it to do this in malta

3--a lot of my business will be via post so i am trying to find out how much a parcel will cost to ship to the UK the average weight will be 200 grams and 700 grams (i am trying to compare costs to the UK prices as i run the business here at the moment

4--I would like to get a long term rental property that is either a house with some land (garden big enough for a decent side shed/workshop or a farmhouse again with a area for shed/workshop or even if property has a garage then i can use that instead of shed and wondered what the best estate agents are to use.

5-- what is the employment situation like at present in the property maintenance sector

Thank you in advance
Nic

Gozit

Hey Nic, I am assuming you and your family are full UK citizens, and have valid British passports, therefore eligible for EU freedom of movement.

1--i heard Gozo is a good area as i have a couple of children at the moment aged 10 and 13 is there any other area of malta that would be worth considering

I am from Gozo and it is a great place for kids, as long as you don't mind them doing as the locals do... If you are "overprotective" of your kids they might be singled out...

Our gozitan customs for feasts, and dressing up, and going out late, all of which usually apply to gozitan teens can be a bit odd for Brits, Canadians, basically anyone who isn't Maltese
Do keep in mind that in terms of something "happening" to your kids, not to say it is 100% not going to happen, but it is less likely to happen in a tightly-knit island like Gozo where everyone is friends with everyone, then it is in the UK.

You will be very well received in Gozo and likely meet other Brit expats there too. Word will go round and the entire village will probably know of your existence in a few days, and drop in to say Hello, or say hello in the square...

The 10 year old will pick up Maltese faster than the 13 year old, but if 13 year old is willing and exciting for the move, he/she will pick it up relatively fast, too.

The only thing with Gozo is there is very little work there. Running your own business you will be fine, but if you wanted to look for employment it is better on Malta... Although I will warn you, the employment situation in Malta in general is bad, and pay is a lot lower than you would expect from the UK. (Again, you would not be affected by this if you ran your own business)

2--i would like to set up a business how easy is it to do this in malta
That is very easy to do as an EU citizen, you just register with the IRD (sorry I dont know the particulars on that so I wont advise you, but i will link you to http://www.ird.gov.mt/) , and when applying for your residence card just apply under self employed. I would link you to the info for that, but unfortunately the ministry for foreign affairs site is down. I'll post it later

3--a lot of my business will be via post so i am trying to find out how much a parcel will cost to ship to the UK the average weight will be 200 grams and 700 grams (i am trying to compare costs to the UK prices as i run the business here at the moment

The website for the Malta Post company is www.maltapost.com ... Upon navigating their website it seems like there is no price list...

I suspect it will be more expensive to ship Malta-UK internationally than UK-UK domestic...
4--I would like to get a long term rental property that is either a house with some land (garden big enough for a decent side shed/workshop or a farmhouse again with a area for shed/workshop or even if property has a garage then i can use that instead of shed and wondered what the best estate agents are to use.

That will be easy. Long Let farmhouses are huge in Gozo. Good estate agents are Frank Salt at http://franksalt.com.mt/ , and Belair at http://www.belair.com.mt/ ... There will be plenty of room for a shed/workshop... One thing you have to worry about is Air Condition. You need to make sure the house you rent has air conditioning especially in the bedrooms, and that the units are in sound condition. Gozitan summers are very very hot, and they are very pleasant for those who like heat (like myself) but nonetheless you need Air Condition to get through the summer.

5-- what is the employment situation like at present in the property maintenance sector

I addressed this one above in number 1 I believe

If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Gozit

Something I didn't mention - schools... Schools in Malta are based on the British system, so you should be familiar with it. Most classes are taught in Maltese, with the obvious exception of English. The one thing is, and I don't know if this is a huge issue for you or oldest kid, but the High schools are gender-separated... Sucks I know I was gonna go on exchange to Malta but when I found out there wouldn't be any girls in the school I didn't like that

The primary schools, on the other hand, are mixed. So they go to primary school with both genders, then are separated for High School... One of those crazy Maltese-catholic things no one understands but them... Being Maltese by descent not living there, I don't even understand that one myself...

Njcdec

Hi
Thank you for the advice i will look at the sites you mentioned and that should make things clearer for me i think with the postal service it looks like it will cost about £1.50 more for a 500g parcel than it does in the uk so thats not to bad i appriciate your help and will def contact you if i need more help
Many thanks
Nic

not2old

http://www.maltapost.com/pdf.aspx?f=481

http://www.maltapost.com/pdf.aspx?f=80

http://www.maltapost.com/pdf.aspx?f=1234

Njcdec

Thank you that was a big help
Nic

tikka

Did you move to Malta Njcdec?

Njcdec

Hi no i havent moved yet i hope to move next year now if possible as i have had major knee surgery and was off work for so long (over the past year i had alot of problems with knee which restricted me working and as self employed it had direct affect on funds ) i need to build funds up again but have started to set up my business online so when i move it will already be up and running as its to cover Europe it wont mean starting again when i moved as i can take the business with me .I hope to go over this year to visit and see what rental properties are like if something came up that was suitable for rental and had land or large garden for business i would still consider going this year if possible

tikka

It's sad to hear that news
Hope to see you in Malta
<<snip>>

Njcdec

Thanks i am glad it was now and not when i had moved so i can fully enjoy it when there hope you not moving back to the UK for the weather .When are you moving

tikka

No i'm moving at the end of this year due to work commitments unfortunately and i tried to take my car with me but the costs are expensive

Njcdec

I bet it is expensive to bring it here we prob tax you for the air space it takes up as well as the ground space lol after all UK do like to tax then tax again and then tax u for the third time on the same thing

tikka

That's right so sad i'm gonna leave it in my garage
If you re interested when you come to malta contact me

Njcdec

Ok thanks I will do what area are you living in there . are you renting your property there when you move back or is it rented your in

tikka

I was renting an apartment in the central area (although in Malta there's no far away )
Properties in malta are very expensive to buy you have to be careful what to buy as there are a lot of pitfalls,
Send me a message when you re in Malta so i can help you out